


Parker Luck™️ Strikes Again

by yourlocalmarvelfan



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BAMF Pepper Potts, Comfort fandom anyone else?, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Everyone Is Gay, Fluff, Harley surprises peter on the day of the field trip, I caved and wrote a stark industries fic bite me, I have read every SI fic in the history of SI Field Trip fics, I'm single date me, Loki has a soft spot for Peter change my mind, M/M, Nebula makes an appearance! another protective sister, Not Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter Parker has ADHD, Peter Parker's Field Trip to Stark Industries, Peter and Harley are too cute, Peter is having a crisis, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Wanda adopts peter as her brother okay, flash is Dealt With, god could you imagine the ADHD problems with Spider Senses I would lose my mind, harley almost knocks him out, its totally a coincidence in his mind, mlm/wlw solidarity, obviously it was tony. duh, peter isnt that dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-04
Updated: 2021-03-04
Packaged: 2021-03-17 09:42:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,036
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29715273
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlocalmarvelfan/pseuds/yourlocalmarvelfan
Summary: Peter gets a sense from the second that he walks into school after a "sick day" (see: injuries after a bad patrol) that something isn't right. About 10 seconds later, that feeling is solidified when Ned tells him all about their Field Trip to Stark Industries in a few days. So yeah. Peter is pretty much screwed.Okay fine. so I caved. Stark Industries Field Trip fic anyone?--Rated Teen and Up for cussing, mainly--
Relationships: Betty Brant/Ned Leeds, Harley Keener/Peter Parker, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, Michelle Jones/Original Female Character(s), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Comments: 28
Kudos: 409





	Parker Luck™️ Strikes Again

**Author's Note:**

> I have been looking forward to writing this fic since... probably August! I didn't start it until a few days ago, but I really had fun writing it. I hate writing bullying scenes, so I feel like they could have been better, but I couldn't bring myself to write anything worse.

You know what? Peter was having a perfectly fine week. Flash was laying low after having nearly gotten detention last week, and he’d had a few productive patrols. Maybe he bruised a few ribs on Sunday night and Mr. Stark made him skip school to make sure he was fully recovered. But even then, he got to catch up on sleep and he spent most of the day on the phone with Harley. It had been a really good week. 

Peter should have known it was too good to last. Specifically when he walked into Mr. Harrington’s class and felt his Spidey-Sense tickle the back of his neck. He assumed it was just because of Flash. 

“Peter! Did you hear about the field trip?” Ned asked him as he sat down.

“No? I wasn’t here yesterday, remember?”

“You telling Penis all about how he’s about to be busted?” Flash calls from the other side of the room. 

“Shut the fuck up, Flash,” MJ says, glaring at him. “Anyway. We’re going to SI on Friday. The whole class. Good to see the old Parker Luck is still there.”

“Oh well this is just fantastic. I’m going to kill da-- Mr. Stark,” Peter groaned.

“What was that, Parker? _Dad?_ ” Ned teased.

“Please don’t.”

\---------------------------------

“Mr. Stark! Thanks so much for mentioning the fact that I have a _field trip to my house_ on Friday!” Peter called as he left the elevator and walked into the lab. 

“Nope. Not me. I didn’t know until today when I ran into Pep, I swear. This one is on her,” Mr. Stark said, holding his hands up in surrender. 

“Do I have to go? I could just… stay here and hide?” Peter suggested hopefully. “We could hang out in the lab and work on the new web-shooters?”

“I like the way you think, kid. And that’s very tempting. But no. Not a chance. You’ve missed a lot this year already, and you know it,” Mr. Stark gives him a look that says _stop getting beat up and having to skip school because you got bruised ribs and a minor concussion_.

“It was worth a shot,” Peter sighed, slumping over his work station.

“It was, and I respect the fact that you didn’t try to fake sick instead, because that would have been stupid. Now get to work. Pepper’s cutting us both off early tonight,” Mr. Stark tells him before turning back to work on his own project. Peter eagerly tucks into his own, and the rest of the world drowns out besides Mr. Stark’s rock music and the occasional metal clink of tools being set down and picked up. 

It could have been minutes or hours later, Peter wasn’t sure, when FRIDAY piped up.

“Boss and Underoos, Ms. Romanov has requested I inform you dinner is ready.”

“Tell them we’ll be up soon,” Mr. Stark muttered distractedly from his station. 

“Direct message from Ms. Romanov: Anthony Edward, do not teach my poor паучонок your terrible self-care tactics. Bucky and Steve made ravioli. Dinner. Now.”

At the mention of Steve and Bucky’s ravioli, Peter’s head shot up. 

“Let’s go, Mr. Stark! Before Clint takes all the ones he knows I like!!!” Peter practically yelled, dragging his mentor out of his chair and into the elevator. Mr. Stark opened his mouth to protest the dragging but Peter stopped him. “One word and next time I’ll just pick you up and carry you to the kitchen.” 

When they reached the kitchen, Peter beelined for his favorite raviolis, stealing some out from under Clint’s nose, ducking in and out before Clint could try to stop him. Steve sighed.

“We really should start making more of those to avoid this war every time…” Bucky mused. 

“But where’s the fun in that?” Clint asked, voice muffled over the ravioli already stuffed in his mouth. 

“That’s disgusting.” Bruce laughed from his seat at the kitchen island. Clint bowed to the group, mouth still bulging with ravioli, earning a snorting laugh from Peter. At that moment, Pepper made her entrance, observed Clint, and shook her head. 

“Why do I act like I’m shocked?” she asked Natasha, who just shrugged. Peter, not having forgotten his Aunt Pepper’s betrayal, whipped his head around and glared at her from across the kitchen, waiting until she directed her attention at him. Once she did, she jumped at finding his glare already fixed on her. “What?” She asked. 

“Aunt Pep, how _could_ you?! My class?! Here?!” Peter wailed, pointing a finger at her. Every head in the room turned towards Peter at the same time, half of them already wearing mischievous grins.

“Oh? Oh. That’s your class?” Pepper asked. 

“Advanced engineering? Yes, Pepper. That’s my class. That’s the _only_ advanced engineering class in the entire school!” Peter said, flopping his head down into his arms. Pepper watched him and sighed. 

“I’m sorry, Peter, I really am. If I’d have known, I wouldn’t have picked that class, I’d have chosen the Engineering class. But there’s no changing it now. And you have to go because you’ve--”

“Missed too much school, I know. I already bribed Mr. Stark with extra lab time and puppy eyes and I got nowhere,” Peter grumbled. 

“с тобой все будет хорошо, паучок,” Natasha said, resting her chin on her паучонок’s head. 

“Yeah, once it’s over and I’ve been humiliated by you people, I’m sure it’ll be grand, мама паук.”

“At least you know what to expect, kid,” Clint said, just having finished devouring his ravioli. 

“This is the part where someone says ‘No, Peter! I’ll leave you alone, because messing with you in front of your class is mean and I won’t do that to you!’... Anyone?” Peter asked after a moment of silence. 

“Anyone what?” Wanda asked, making the second entrance of the night. Mr. Stark answered before Peter could cast his puppy eyes around the room. 

“Peter’s class is taking a field trip here on Friday, and he’s asked us to keep our distance.”

Wanda snorted. “Good luck with that, malý pavúk.”

“Steve? Bruce?” Peter begged. 

“I won’t go out of my way, but should you find yourself and your class in the lab...” Bruce shrugged.

“Steve, I will bring up the PSAs in front of my class, don’t think I won’t…” Peter said dangerously. Bucky’s head whipped towards him. 

“I’m sorry. The what?”

“I knew those were a bad idea. You’re going down, Petey-Pie,” Steve said, a warning etched onto his face. It was at that moment that Peter’s phone rang, startling him into nearly dropping it. 

“Shit!” He hissed, checking the screen to see who was calling him. Harley! Finally, an escape. He booked it towards his room, hearing Steve’s warning about his language and Bucky’s immediate response about their Brooklyn heritage as he closed the door.

“Harley!” Peter sighed, sinking onto his bed. “Saved by the phone call.”

“Hi, baby. How was your day?” Harley asked, Southern accent curling into Peter’s ear. 

“Good. I missed you today,” Peter said, holding the phone impossibly close.

“I missed your beautiful face, too, darlin’. Only a few more weeks and then I get you all to myself,” Harley said wistfully. Peter nodded, even though Harley couldn’t see him. He and Harley had been doing long distance for a little over a year. Mr. Stark introduced them one day over a hologram call **(A/N: Like the ones from Endgame. Same tech, no Infinity War/Endgame in this timeline)** and they hit it off right away. Over the course of a few months, they eventually started their relationship, and the rest was history. In a few weeks, Harley was set to spend the summer in New York, his first visit since he and Peter met. 

“I’m counting the minutes. How’s Rose Hill? Abby and your mom?” Peter asked.

“It’s small, boring, and homophobic. Except Abby and mama of course. But I’m just ready to escape for a little while. Ready to see you. How’s the old man doing?”

“Oh, you haven’t heard? I’m kidnapping and holding Pepper and Mr. Stark for ransom for putting me through all this stress.”

“Oh?” Harley chuckles. “What’ve they done now? Actually, hold on, let me add Shuri to this mess.”

“Great,” Peter deadpans. Harley just laughs. The line goes silent for a few seconds, and then he can hear Shuri’s voice mixed with Harley’s. 

“I can already feel the drama radiating through the phone. Why are we plotting the ransom of your lovely parental figures?” Shuri asked. 

“Aunt Pep arranged a field trip for my science class to Stark Industries for Friday!” Peter groaned, flopping back on his bed. It was silent for all of 2 seconds before Shuri and Harley both busted out laughing. “Remind me why I tolerate you two?”

“I’m sorry, darlin’, it’s just too funny. That Parker luck really does get you places,” Harley howls with laughter.

“I can’t even pretend to be sorry, especially because T’Challa and I fly in on Thursday night, and I get to witness and participate like the loving best friend that I am,” Shuri giggles. 

“Damn it, the conference is this weekend! Hold on,” Peter sighs, walking out of his room, back into the kitchen. “Pepper, the conference with Wakanda is this weekend, isn’t it?” He asks. 

“Mhm, why?” Pepper asks distractedly.

“Because Shuri is being an asshole--”

“Language!” came the chorus of heroes, sans Steve who just buried his head in his hands. 

“I stand by that. Shuri is being an asshole and I was wondering if we could postpone their arrival to Friday night instead of Thursday. I do not need Shuri the Chaos Demon causing more trouble for me if I’m going on this field trip.”

“I resent that!” Shuri yells through the phone, almost drowned out by more of Harley’s laughter.

“Owner of the company override. Due to unforeseen circumstances, it’s imperative the King and Princess join us tomorrow,” Mr. Stark smirked, winking.

“She can’t see you, Tony,” Natasha reminded him. 

“I’M WINKING!!!” Mr. Stark yelled at Peter’s phone. Peter sighed. 

“Good-bye, Shuri,” he said into his phone, effectively cutting her out of the call, but leaving Harley on the line. “And good-bye family who obviously doesn’t love me. I will now go cry to my boyfriend who _does_ love me!” Peter called out on his way back to his room. 

“Felt that!” Bucky yelled. 

“Who taught you to say that?” Wanda laughed faintly as Peter closed his door.

“It won’t be so bad, darlin’. They won’t do anything that puts your identity at risk. You know that,” Harley tries to soothe his distraught boyfriend. 

“No, I know that. I just know that they’re gonna be constantly dropping in and Flash--”

“What about Flash?” Harley said quickly. 

“Nothing! I just meant that no one but Ned, MJ, and Betty believe me anyways, and I don’t want to deal with that,” Peter sighed, yawning.

“Well, if it gets to be too much, just sneak away and call me. I’ve got you, sweetheart,” Harley says, and Peter can almost hear the smile in his voice. 

“You’re oddly giddy. Why?” Peter asked, punctuating his sentence with a yawn.

“I’m just imagining what they have in store for you, that’s all. I can hear you yawning. You should get some rest, darlin’.”

“Okay.” Another yawn. “Goodnight, Harls.”

“Goodnight, Pete. I love you.”

Peter smiled. “I love you, too.”

\---------------------------------

Later that night, after Peter had woken up from what turned out to be a nap and not a restful night of sleep, he heard a knock at his door. Mr. Stark, he assumed. Sometimes he had… well, he called them dreams, but they were nightmares. Afterwards, he just needed to make sure Peter was okay. Peter wasn’t entirely sure where those nightmares stemmed from, but he was always willing to give his da-- Mr. Stark a hug and remind him that everyone was safe so he could go back to sleep.

“Come on in,” Peter called from his desk. His door opened, and in walked Steve.

“Hey, Pete. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I know tonight was a lot…” Steve said, sitting on Peter’s bed. 

“Hey, Steve. I’m okay. I was just overwhelmed, that’s all.”

“What are you so worried about? You love your classmates, especially your Academic Decathlon team. Maybe it won’t be so bad. Tony might surprise you,” Steve smirked.

“I do love them! And most of them are in this class, actually. We’re all good friends… but only MJ, Ned, and Betty believe me about this internship at all. Let alone the fact that I’m Mr. Stark’s intern and work with you all. We’re not even going to bring up the little fact that I live here. And he may, but I doubt it.”

“Oh?” Steve tilted his head, not unlike a puppy. 

“Yeah. I feel like Friday is where it’s all going to come to a head. Like that point in a movie or a book where everything gets really overwhelming for the main character before it gets even a little better. It’ll be like watching a train crash in slow motion, and then after it all happens, I have to go back to school on Monday and deal with the aftermath. Either I’m going to get a ton of attention because now I’m the coolest person ever for knowing the Avengers, or I’m going to get a ton of shit-- Steve Rogers if you even move to utter the word language I will actually throw you out. Anyway, like I said, or I’m going to get a ton of shit because they _still_ think I’m lying,” Peter finished his diatribe by pushing away from his desk and spinning dramatically in his chair. 

“I’m getting the sense you’re talking about one person in particular. Who’s really bothering you, kid? Don’t lie to me, I’ll ask Ned if you lie to me.”

Peter opened his mouth, closed it. Opened it again, and then stared at his hands as he closed it. “His name is Flash. Well. Eugene Thompson, but he goes by Flash.”

“That’s a really stupid nickname,” Steve snorted. “What does Flash do that has you worried?”

“He’s pretty much all talk. He’s pretty popular, and he just took an immediate dislike to me. He just calls me names, trips me once in the while. He used to pick on Ned a lot, too. And before you get all ‘I'm-Mr Righteous-Captain-America’ about this, I would much rather it be me, because I can take it. It’s not actually hurting my feelings, it’s just embarrassing,” Peter said, only half-lying. Only Harley knew how bad it had gotten at one point, only because Peter swore him to secrecy. 

“Just because you’re Spider-Man doesn’t mean you should have to put up with him anymore than anyone else, Pete. You’re a great kid, a wonderful one. And even though I might not understand all the technology around here, I don’t have to to know you’re one of the brightest minds technology has seen in a long time. I don’t want this kid to be the reason you start to doubt that, understand?” Steve asked, reaching over and putting an arm around Peter’s shoulders. God he loves Steve. He’s by no means the cool Uncle, that’s Bucky or Clint. He’s definitely the reliable one, though. Peter knows all about pre-serum Steve. He speaks from experience, to a degree. The being bullied part. 

“I got it, Steve. I promise.”

“Come to me if you decide you want to do something about it, okay? Any of us, really. I think Bucky would be more than pleased to put him in his place.”

Peter nodded, not sure what to say. Steve seemed to pick up on this, standing up. 

“Alright, well I’ve kept you awake long enough. Go to sleep, Peter. I mean it. I was hoping you’d be asleep already, actually.”

“I fell asleep on call with Harley, but I woke up again like an hour ago. I probably should try to sleep though, you’re right. Night, Steve.” Peter said, hugging the hero. Steve paused for a second before hugging him back. 

“Sleep well, Spiderling.”

\---------------------------------

The rest of the week passed by pretty uneventfully if you excluded Flash’s slightly-excessive taunting, and everyone showed up to school on Friday giddy and way too awake for Peter. His hearing was always way stronger in the morning, he was still adjusting to the noise of people again instead of the silence in his room. Plus, he’d woken up late and left his old badge in his room, so he had to text Mr. Stark, who said it was fine, Friday would just have to do her usual biometric scan instead. On top of that, Peter hadn’t even gotten to see Shuri last night, because she didn’t get in until he was on patrol, and when he got back, she was asleep, trying to get rid of jet lag.

“You ready to be exposed, Parker?” Flash taunted from the front of the bus, snapping him out of his reverie. He winced a little. Like he said, sensitive hearing.

“It’s hard to expose me for something that’s true, Flash,” Peter shot back. He was determined to make the best of this. Or at least have the bus ride in peace. 

“Sure, Penis. I’m sure you’ll be singing another tune when we leave here.”

“Flash. Shut. Up. It’s getting pathetic,” MJ said with a glare. 

“Thanks. I’m hoping to at least have the bus ride before my world descends into chaos and never comes back,” Peter sighed, draping himself over the bus seat like a damsel in distress.

“Because _that’s_ not dramatic or anything.” MJ rolled her eyes. “I’m just glad I remembered this.” she waved her ‘People in Crisis’ notebook. 

“At least someone will enjoy this.” Peter sighed, sinking down into his seat. 

When they arrived at the building, everyone stared up at it in awe, Mr. Harrington included. They were so entranced that they didn’t notice Jocelyn, a friend of Peter’s who happened to be a tour guide, walk up to them and clap her hands. 

“Midtown?” she asked. Everyone startled except Peter. When she noticed him, she lit up, but he dragged his finger across his throat, shaking his head. She nodded, taking it in stride as Mr. Harrington confirmed that yes, they were Midtown. “Wonderful. Well, I’m Jocelyn and I’m your tour guide today. Everyone please remember that there are no photos permitted above the museum floor. You are all going to receive a badge in just a minute. You need it to get into every room we’re going in. Do not lose it. If you do, you’ll be escorted out by security. That’s time consuming, our head of security is annoying about procedures. When I call your name, come get your badge, okay? Betty Brant.”

When Jocelyn was done, she led the way into the building, demonstrating how to swipe their badge. 

“Jocelyn Powers. Tour Guide. Level 4. Welcome back. Are you with a tour?” FRIDAY’s lilting accent came suddenly from the ceiling. Even MJ jumped a little. 

“Don’t worry guys, that’s just FRIDAY, the Tower AI. Yes, FRIDAY. This is the Midtown School of Science and Technology.”

“Welcome, Midtown. Enjoy your tour.”

Jocelyn motioned for Mr. Harrington to swipe his badge and pass through.

“Roger Harrington. Level 2. Welcome.”

“What do the different levels mean?” Cindy asked.

“Level one is for people who are only here for the museum. They have access to the museum of course, the cafeteria, and of course bathrooms. I don’t know all the levels, but I know that Tours and Press are usually level 2, Level 4 is Tour Guides and low-level interns, and then Level 8 is family and friends of Avengers and Residents, Level 9 is for non-resident Avengers, and Level 10 is for Avengers and Residents. Next through, please,” Jocelyn waved.

“Eugene ‘Flash’ Thompson. Level 2. Welcome to Stark Industries.”

Eventually it was just Peter, left without a badge and dreading the attention that would come with it.

“Peter! Why didn’t you say anything? Here, use mine to swipe in,” Mr. Harrington tried to hand Peter his badge.

“Peter, I have it down here that you already have a badge,” Jocelyn said, obviously confused. 

“No, it’s fine. I don’t need a badge,” Peter said, stepped over to the scanner next to the normal set of doors.

“Ahhh. I see. Midtown, Peter is about to step through the Biometric Scanner. FRIDAY will scan him to assure that he is truly who he says he is. This is designated for people with passes levels 8 and higher,” Jocelyn explained as Peter stepped into the scanner.

“Peter Parker. Mini Boss. Level 10. Authorized Weapons: 3. Welcome back, Peter! Should I inform Boss or Scary Lady of your arrival?” FRIDAY asked. Peter shook his head at the nearest camera.

“No, FRIDAY. I’m here with my school, remember?”

“Of course. In that case, I’m under orders to report when you arrive with your school. Boss, Mr. Righteous, Birdbrain, Mama Spider, Green Bean, Hammerhead, Slokovian Fortune Teller, Literally a Princess, Cold Soldier, Tricky God and Blue Robot have been alerted of your arrival.” FRIDAY chirped. Peter buried his face in his hands.

“I hate everything,” he groaned, walking towards his slack-jawed classmates before pausing. “Wait-- Loki and Nebula are here?!” he asked, suddenly excited. 

“Yes, they arrived just a few hours ago.”

Peter nodded, smiling to himself, and kept walking.

“Peter, did FRIDAY say you were carrying weapons?” Mr. Harrington asked, a very serious look on his face. 

“Yes, sir. That’s just something FRIDAY does to mess with me though. I’m not actually authorized to even use weapons here,” Peter lied easily, making his way back to his friends.

“And the truth?” Betty asked.

“Two web-shooters and me. Technically, I’m considered a weapon. So are Steve and Bucky, because we’re genetically modified,” he said truthfully, and his friends nodded. He looked up to the front to see Jocelyn smiling at her phone only to glance in his direction before seeing she had been caught and looking back down. He walked up to her.

“No you don’t. What was that?”

“What was what?” she asked innocently.

No sooner did he open his mouth to argue with her than FRIDAY called his name. “Yes, FRIDAY?”

“Boss says ‘you’re welcome. Turn around’.”

Peter followed FRIDAY’s request, and there stood Harley Keener just a few feet away in all of his too-tall glory. 

“If this is a hologram, I am going to kick Tony’s ass,” Peter said, launching himself at his boyfriend, clutching his sweatshirt like it was his lifeline. Harley laughed and tucked him under his chin-- damn he was taller than Peter thought he would be-- and held him just as tightly. “Hey, Harls.”

“Hi, darlin’. Surprise,” Harley grinned. Peter looked up at his boyfriend, shocked and confused. “The old man flew me down a few weeks early. I’ll take my exams online in a few weeks, but otherwise I’m done and wanted to surprise you,” he explained.

“What the shit is happening?” came a voice from behind them.

“Oh. I think we have an audience?” Harley asked. Suddenly Peter remembered his classmates. 

“I’m on a field trip with my class,” Peter mumbled to him, holding his hoodie tighter.

“Okay well I’m supposed to join you on this tour, so why don’t we go join them and we’ll catch up later?” Harley chuckled. Peter sighed, letting go reluctantly.

“I’m going to kick Tony’s ass regardless. He has great ideas and torturous timing.” Peter decided, leading Harley back to his group. “Joce, this is Harley Keener. Boss’ friend from the Mandarin incident?”

“I didn’t realize when he said kid, he meant _child_ when he talked in interviews. Nice to meet you Harley, I’m Jocelyn, a friend of Peter’s.”

“Nice to meet you! Thanks for letting me hijack your tour,” Harley grinned, shaking her hand. “I’m sure we’ve put you behind, so my apologies for that. I’m excited for this tour, though. I haven’t been here in years.” he smiled at her again before he and Peter wandered back towards Ned and MJ. 

“Sorry about the pit stop, Midtown. That was too good of a surprise for my favorite intern for me to say no. Anyway, we’re going to head this way towards the elevators for the museum!” she clapped her hands again and led the way. 

Harley smiled at Ned, Betty and MJ. “I know you three. Ned, it’s great to meet Peter’s best friend. Michelle, right? I know not to call you anything else without permission. And Betty. Peter’s told me so much about your column in the school paper. I’m hoping to snag a copy of next week’s edition from him so I can finally read your work!” He said as he shook all their hands. 

MJ observed him for a minute as they crowded into the elevator. “You can call me MJ. I already don’t hate you,” she nods at him and goes back to watching their class. Harley takes this as the compliment it is and smiles. Peter chances a quick look around himself. Everyone is outright staring at him. Flash is firetruck red and sneering directly at him. 

“Oh, Peter talks about me, then?” Harley says, wrapping his arms around Peter from the back. 

“Definitely,” Ned confirms with a grin. 

“Alright, Midtown! Here’s the museum! It spans this entire floor, and there’s a set of stairs leading to the new exhibits like Spider-Man, Scarlet Witch, and a section on Wakandan technology. You have an hour before we move on to intern labs. Enjoy!” Jocelyn announces before wandering away to a bench, where she pulls out a book and smirks at MJ. MJ watches her back. 

“Why are you still standing here? Your girlfriend is just _sitting_ there,” Peter nudges her. She gives him a small smile before sauntering over to Jocelyn. Betty and Ned gape at him. 

“How did you know?” Ned asks after he has his Moment™️.

“I had MJ over a while back, and when we were eating in the cafeteria, Jocelyn came over and introduced herself to MJ. I already was pretty close with Joce, so she sat with us, and the second she got MJ talking about the books they were both reading, MJ was doing her version of heart eyes. They’ve been dating for like 5 months, I think?” Peter says. Betty shook her head. 

“I didn’t even know women were an option for MJ,” she shrugged. 

“Oh yeah. She’s definitely a lesbian. _That_ I did know.” Ned told her. Everyone nodded. “Peter, why are you still standing here? There’s a Spider-Man exhibit! Why are we not there right now?” he cried after a second, seizing Peter’s wrist and walking to the stairs. Harley and Betty laughed and followed, striking up a conversation about Harley’s plans for his visit. 

“I wasn’t too worried about it. I mean, I should be, because Mr. Stark was in charge of it. But I kinda know everything?”

“But it’s so cool! He gets his own exhibit in the Avenger’s museum!” Ned said as they reached the exhibit in question. Maybe Peter _should_ have been worried. Mr. Stark really went all out, even including his first Spider-Man ‘uniform’. Or what Mr. Stark called his Underoos. Hence the terrible nickname. Peter positively beamed when he saw a little bisexual pride flag hanging in the display, too. 

“Check this out! There’s a fact sheet,” Betty said, pointing. “Spider-Man is… afraid of spiders?”

All heads turned towards Peter, except Harley, who was biting his fist to avoid laughing loudly. 

“You try getting bitten by a spider and waking up so sick your aunt who is a _nurse_ isn’t even sure what’s wrong. Then end up in a hospital beyond sick for a week and then come out the other side a human spider,” he mumbled. “I don’t even technically have bones, for Christ’s sake!” he said. “Now that was a fun experience with Dr. Cho.”

“You don’t have… bones?” Betty asked.

“I mean… I do, but they’re weak now. I have an exoskeleton for protection. It’s between muscle layers,” Peter told her as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He braced himself.

“What the fuck, Parker?!” Flash stalked over, explaining the Spidey-Sense flare up. Harley shot Peter a glare, and Peter sent one right back. “What the hell was that show in the lobby with the AI? Who was she talking about, all those nicknames? How did you hack her into saying you have a Level 10 badge?”

Peter’s mouth opened and closed a few times, but no sound actually came out. How was he supposed to explain this without divulging that he A) lived in the tower, B) did technically hack FRIDAY to change everyone’s names, and C) was set to take over the company when Mr. Stark retired so he had all access because he was already training?

“I don’t believe we’ve met,” Harley said, stepping in front of a scrambling Peter. “I’m Harley Keener. Heir to Stark Industries’ Business. I can promise you, Peter didn’t hack anything. He is most definitely an intern, he’s been climbing the ranks here for years. Why don’t you shut the fuck up, take your nose out of my boyfriend’s business, and walk your sorry ass away from him and his friends. I’ve half a mind to just call security now. We take bullying very seriously here.” he set his hardest glare on Flash, who cowered, backing away quickly. Peter smiled, squeezing his hand in thanks. 

“I’ll probably pay for that later,” he said. “But I don’t even care. Technically, I _did_ hack FRIDAY to change everyone’s names. I got bored last week and reprogrammed them. They used to just be their actual names. Except Mr. Stark, he’s always Boss. I haven’t figured out how to change his yet. Depending on how this fact sheet goes, I may spend tonight figuring out how. I’m kinda scared of what he said.”

Everyone turned back to the fact list.

_1\. Spider-Man is afraid of spiders_

_2\. He doesn’t drink coffee, he prefers tea_

_3\. Before he became Spider-Man, he was legally blind and therefore couldn’t drive. He’s still learning now_

_4\. Spider-Man is technically not an Avenger, but he does work very closely with the Avengers when he’s around the compound_

_5\. Spider-Man is bisexual_

_6\. Spider-Man is Black Widow and the Winter Soldier’s favorite superhero_

_7\. Spider-Man walks on the ceiling. A lot. Captain America found this out the hard way and nearly had a heart attack_

There were more facts, but for the second time that day, Peter’s Spidey-Senses lit up. 

“Everyone move back. Like, right now,” Peter said, motioning his friends a healthy 6 feet back. “I don’t know why yet, just… ah shit,” he said as the vents creaked.

“Language!” came a muffled voice from the vents. Then there was a yelp, and… yup that was definitely Uncle Birdbrain crashing down onto the floor, attracting his class from all around to see what the crash was. “Hey, Pete. Fancy seeing you here.”

“I’m going to kill you,” Peter snarled quietly. 

“Hi, Peter’s classmates! I’m--”

“HolyshityoureHawkeye!” Charles gasped.

“Go gay panic somewhere else, Charles,” Abe said. Clint laughed at Charles’ fiery blush.

“Yup, that’s me! Pete here just calls me Uncle Clint, though. Don’t you, Pete?”

“Go step on a Lego barefoot,” Peter muttered to him.

Clint kept talking, not oblivious to Peter, but choosing to ignore him. 

“In case you were wondering, I’m totally the cool Uncle. I taught Peter everything he knows about archery and talking to girls. Nothing against you, Harley! I just don’t know how to talk to guys like that, never had the chance to learn. My bi awakening came after I was married. We can thank Thor for that mess.”

“Clint. Are your hearing aids broken or are you just being an asshole?” Peter asked, louder than he meant to. Clint laughed, taking off one of his hearing aids and showing the young genius. 

“They work fine, thank you Parker. I’m just enjoying myself.”

“Wait? You use hearing aids?” Marli asked. “I didn’t know that! I use them, too!”

“The media is beyond ableist, kids. Don’t forget it. I’m deaf, and I’ve said it before. Somehow no one has ever heard about it. Peter actually made the hearing aids I use on missions! They double as comms. Peter has also…” Clint continued on. 

Peter was trying very hard to melt into the floor, but he settled for shoving his face into Harley’s chest. He could feel Harley silently laughing and pinched him. 

“This is homophobia, Clint,” he said when his Uncle was _finally_ done infodumping to his class about him, his ADHD-style storytelling taking them on a rollercoaster Peter didn’t remember agreeing to go on.

“I’d say I’m sorry--”

“But we already know that you’re not,” a new voice said. Peter beamed, turning around to see the God of Mischief himself striding towards them. “Your cellular phone was ringing, and Romanov said you were down here embarrassing Peter, so I volunteered to bring it to you. Hello, Peterling!” Loki turned his attention to his young friend. Peter didn’t even have it in him to be annoyed as he hugged the god. 

“You didn’t tell me that you were on a hugging basis with Loki!!!” Ned whispered to him as he stood back.

“Yeah, for a while now. I thought I mentioned it?”

“Uhhh no???”

“Well now you know. Also, should I… I don’t know, step in over there?” Peter asked. Ned nodded, taking in the scene. Loki was standing in the middle of Peter’s whole class, nervously observing the teenagers as they clambered to ask him questions. They were yelling over one another as Peter went to stand beside his friend. “One at a time! Cindy, go ahead.”

“How old are you?”

“I’m over one thousand years old, child. However, Asgardians live much longer, and by our standards, I’m the equivalent of a 20 year old Midgardian. I have a very long life ahead of me.”

The group gaped. Abe raised his hand, and Peter nodded at him. 

“So does that mean that the whole… 2012 incident was like your... rebellious phase?” Abe asked. Loki tensed, looking at Peter for a moment, the younger sending him a reassuring nod before he looked back to the class. 

“The Chitauri was a result of a very long story we do not have time for today, but if you want the basics, it was mind control on the part of Thanos, who was thankfully taken down by the Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain Marvel several years ago,” Loki answered. More hands went up, but at that moment, Joce and MJ walked over.

“Oh, hey Loki,” MJ said, nodding at the god. 

“Michelle,” Loki nodded back. 

“Alright, everyone, we’re headed to the labs before lunch, and if you want a chance to talk with some of the scientists we should probably get moving. Everyone, say thank you to Hawkeye and Loki,” Jocelyn said, leading them away. Peter flashed Clint the finger as they left, and waved at Loki. He didn’t miss the nasty look Flash had been giving him since he hugged Loki. If he didn’t know better, he would say Flash was just jealous. But he did know better. He knew Flash was waiting for what he considered the perfect moment to call him out. He also knew it would end up being the worst possible time and whoever they were in front of when Flash _did_ call him out would tear him a new one, which made him feel better. 

“Every Lab in Stark industries means something,” Jocelyn announced. “Interns name the labs themselves, and most of the outsiders, like me, never actually find out what the Lab names mean. I received an email saying we’re going to Lab FTSTAB1. I have no idea what that means, but maybe we can ask once we get there.”

Peter groaned. 

“What does FTSTAB1 mean, darlin’?” Harley asked him. 

“Fix The Stuff The Avengers Broke 1. It’s a pretty high clearance lab, and exactly what it sounds like. Mr. Stark and Bruce circulate through there a few times a month. I’m in there… a lot,” Peter said as they filed into the lab. 

“Here we are! FTSTAB1. It looks like the scientists are pretty hard at work on projects. For now, let’s go around this corner to meet the head of the lab--”

“There’s my favorite white boys!” Shuri yells as they round the corner, launching herself at Peter and Harley. They laugh, hugging her. “MJ, I presume? Ned and Betty? Great to meet you guys,” Shuri shakes their hands, and laughs when Ned’s mouth falls open. 

“Who the hell are you?” Flash asks her. Peter just stares at him. Well, Flash fucked up faster than he thought. 

“I’m head of the lab--” Shuri begins to introduce herself.

“Mhm, sure. How do you know Peter?”

“Peter and I are pretty much best friends! He’s the reason I’m head of this lab, actually,” Shuri says. 

“I’m sure he is,” Flash sneered. Shuri cast an incredulous look towards Peter and his friends. They only shook their heads. 

“Ah, you must be Flash. I’ve heard _plenty_ about you. But we can chat later. For now, everyone should come check out my newest project. They only showed up about 30 minutes ago,” Shuri led the way back to her work station. There sat a very agitated looking, armless Bucky and a snickering Steve, whose shield was stuck in Bucky’s metal arm, which was laying on Shuri’s table.

“Ahhh. I understand the name now,” Harley mumbled. Peter was seeing red.

“What the _fuck_ did you do to your new arm? I just finished that yesterday, you assholes! You would think it would last more than a day before you two… what were you, sparring no-holds-barred?! Even then, that’s Vibranium on Vibranium, it shouldn’t have just let the shield in like putty? I don’t-- why the hell are you laughing, I am going to cover everything you own in glitter you mother--”

Bucky finally lost his control, doubling over in laughter. Steve was already crouched down on the floor in a fit of giggles. It only took a minute for Shuri to join their laughter, her hysterics echoing in the small space. It was then that Peter noticed 2 things.

1\. His entire class was gaping at him like fish out of water

2\. That wasn’t even Bucky’s new arm. That was the original arm he came to them with. That was, however, Steve’s shield, although really there was no damage done to it. 

“You’re all dead to me. James Buchanan Barnes if you had Mr. Stark take off your arm for a prank, you’re pettier than I thought, and you should watch your shampoo for hair dye for a while. Steve Rogers, don’t you dare laugh like I’m not washing your uniform in glitter for this,” Peter lectured the two. Bucky and Steve both got up and hugged him, still wearing shit-eating grins. 

“I’m so sorry, Pete. That was mean. But if it makes you feel any better, we were going to do it tomorrow anyway,” Steve said. 

“I can’t take it anymore, holy shit. Maybe Hawkeye, but this is too much. Do you really know Parker or is he paying you?” Flash interrupted. “I’ll pay you double whatever he is for the truth!” he added. 

“Ahhhh. Flash, right?” Steve asked, looking to Shuri for a nod of confirmation. 

“How do you all know my name? Why is there a high schooler running the lab? How much money could Little Orphan Peter have to pull this off?” Flash asked angrily. Peter watched all three of his friends tense as they looked at each other. 

“Do you wanna take this one?” Shuri asked Steve and Bucky. 

“Oh no, please. You can start,” Bucky smirked. Shuri nodded before facing them, a plastic smile on her face.

“Let’s start over! Hello, Midtown. Please, let me introduce myself, since I wasn’t able to do so earlier! My name is Princess Shuri of Wakanda,” she began, delighting in the way Flash immediately turned beet red and shut his mouth. “But everyone calls me Shuri. You’re in lab FTSTAB1, named by your very own Peter, who assists me by running this lab when I’m away. What does FTSTAB1 mean, Petey?”

“Don’t call me that. FTSTAB1 stands for Fix The Stuff the Avengers Broke. Hence these two _idiots_ presence,” Peter said, casting a nasty glare at Steve and Bucky, who just smiled. 

“As for your question of how much Peter is paying us, kid,” Bucky said, jumping into the conversation, his grin turning wolf-like. “He’s not paying us anything. If anything, we should be paying him for putting up with pranks like this at least twice a month.”

Peter sees Steve open his mouth and tries to catch his eye, a look on his face that says _we’re not even halfway through the day please don’t_. Steve nods.

“I think our prank has taken enough time out of Midtown’s lab tour, Buck. Let’s hand them back to Shuri. Let’s leave Pete be,” he says, gently tugging Bucky by the hand. Bucky lets go just long enough to tug Peter into a one-armed hug.

“You’ll put my arm back on for me though, right? I hate having Tony work on it,” Bucky whispered. Peter nodded. 

“Right after school. You and me in the lab with Thai food and my complaints of today. Enjoy the rest of your armless day, O’ Ancient One. Your center of gravity is going to be terrible,” he laughed, pushing the two super soldiers out the door and turning back to Shuri, who was launching into a lesson about how they _actually_ fix Bucky’s arm when things get stuck inside of it after sparring sessions or battles gone sideways. 

“...in this case,” Shuri was saying, “we do actually need to get Captain Rogers’ shield out of the arm. Like that’s actually his shield. Since we don’t have any reason to preserve this arm, we can pretty much have at it, I think. Peter? Thoughts?”

 _I’m thinking I would like to sink into the floor leave me **alone**_.

“I think you’re right. It’s not like Bucky’s eager to have a keepsake,” Peter shrugged. 

“Absolutely. So, the goal is to get the shield out without damaging _too_ much of the arm. How do you think we should start?”

\---------------------------------

After what felt like one of Steve’s lifetimes, Jocelyn finally led Peter, his class, and Harley to the cafeteria floor.

“Alright, I’ve heard a few things about a possible schedule change, so I don’t actually know where we’re going after this. But for now, you have an hour to eat, on your ID badge there’s enough money charged for any one meal you want,” Jocelyn informed them, and the class broke up to check out all the different options. Peter and Harley had to team up to carry Peter’s lunch to their table, super-metabolism and all. 

“How was the flight?” Peter asked, realizing he hadn’t had much time to really talk to Harley, he was too busy being mid-crisis. 

“Well, you know me and planes, darlin’. But the old man sent the jet for me, so at least I could freak out in private,” Harley chuckled. “Got to the tower right before you did, I haven’t even seen Tony yet.”

“You should go now and see him before we go… well god knows what the schedule change is going to be so I don’t know where we’re going.”

“Nah, I’d much rather stay here with my favorite guy,” Harley said with a smirk. 

“Do not start making me blush, Harley James Keener you will regret it. I will bitch slap you here in this cafeteria.”

“What are you doing here in this cafeteria?” asked a voice close to his ear. Peter jumped a foot off of his bench. Wanda. 

“Jesus fuck, could you _not_ do that?!” Peter cried, glaring at her. 

“Why not? It’s a gift!” Wanda insisted. Harley laughed, loud and sharp.

“Oh, I _like_ you. Wanda, I presume. I’m Harley,” he said, reaching out to shake her hand, and she took it. 

“So you’re the infamous Harley. We meet at last. I’ll give you the shovel talk later,” Wanda said. Harley grinned.

“My third so far. I look forward to it.”

“Third?” Peter asked. 

“Steve was the one who met me at the penthouse,” Harley nodded. “Plus the old man already gave me one. I’m sure there are more to come after Wanda, too.”

“Oh, everyone wants a turn. Not to scare you… but totally to scare you. Loki’s supposed to be down this summer, right, Peter?” at that, Harley’s eyes widened. 

“Last I heard, he’ll be here in a few weeks.”

“Prepare for the shovel talk of a lifetime. Loki and Thor love Peter more than the rest of us combined. Except for Tony--”

“Okay, new topic. Wanda, do you know anything about a schedule change?”

“Who, me? Nope, nothing, sorry.” the look on her face said otherwise.

“I don’t like the look on your face, Maximoff--”

“Oh, look at the time. Gotta dash. Shuri wants to have me, her words not mine, “lift heavy shit with my mind so she can study it”. I figured there was no harm. Byeeeee,” Wanda waved, sauntering away, ignoring all the stares she and Peter had been receiving since she arrived. 

Well fuck. 

\---------------------------------

“Alright, Midtown!” Jocelyn yelled. “Meet me by the elevators, please.”

Slowly, the class gathered into the elevator, and Jocelyn flashed an evil grin towards Peter before clapping her hands again. 

“Everyone into the elevators, we’re headed to the Avenger’s training room!” she announced, and Peter watched his classmates’ jaws drop. 

“Do you have the clearance to take us up that far?” Peter asked her quietly. 

“Nope. But you do! Peter, please have FRIDAY take us to the training floor.”

“I could do that!” Flash said, obviously eavesdropping. “FRIDAY, take us to the Avenger’s training room.”

“You do not have the clearance to request that floor.” FRIDAY replied immediately. 

“FRIDAY. Training room, please. And who all is in there?”

“Yes, Peter. And I have been instructed by Boss not to tell you who is there, only to wish you luck.”

“Aw, damn. It’s gonna be Nat,” Peter whined. MJ perked up at that. 

“Do you think I’ll get a chance to talk to her?” she asked. 

“Maybe not today, but if you want, you can come by sometime and meet with her… and Ms. Potts?” Peter suggested. MJ smirked, as close to a real smile as he would probably get. 

“Do you think Dr. Banner ever uses this gym to train?” Cindy asked the elevator.

Peter answered before he could stop himself. “Dr. Banner has never trained a day in his life past the very basics. If he’s in a fight, Hulk takes over and that’s not Banner’s problem. Hulk is his own entity who fights just fine with no training. Plus, no one can get Hulk under control for long enough to teach him anything.”

And then the elevator doors opened as his class gaped at him. Flash, as expected, was giving him a look that could kill. But Peter was realizing that he, to his own dismay, was right. Not only was Nat in there, she was sparring with Nebula. Peter could sit and watch their fights for as long as they lasted, which could be a while. Nebula was largely machine, but Nat was trained like one, and their fights were known to get intense. They called it friendly competition. Peter wasn’t so sure…

His class filed in silently, pressing back against the far wall. Harley looked far too pleased, so Peter decided to bring him down a few pegs. 

“You look thrilled to see Nat. But you won’t later. She calls me ‘baby spider’, Harls,” he whispered to his boyfriend. “Enjoy that shovel talk. I hear they’re world-class.” he delighted a little too much in watching the color leave Harley’s face, pecking his cheek before he could stand back up fully. 

As the sparring match died down, both of them obviously noticing their company, the class watched with bated breath as the two women turned around. Nat smiled dangerously. 

“Midtown, correct?” she asked. Everyone nodded. “How would you like to attempt sparring with one of us?” the entire class’s hands shot up. Except Peter of course. “Hmmm, how about the curly haired boy in the back? In the blue shirt?” Nat asked, her face showing that she knew exactly what she was doing. Peter dragged his feet to the front. 

“Hello, Peter,” Nebula said. As if his poor classmates’ day couldn’t get weirder. 

“Hey, Neb. I didn’t realize you would be here,” Peter said, giving her a Look. She smirked. Asshole knew exactly what she was doing. 

“Loki got a message we should show up today, so here we are. I figured I should get some training in. Are you sparring with me or her?” Nebula asked. 

“I’ll take on Nat for now.”

Natasha smirked. 

“Come on, паук ребенок, we haven’t got all day,” Nat teases, even though Peter is aware of exactly how long they have and then some. 

“How long do you think Parker’ll last, huh?” Flash mutters to Abe, who shrugs him off. “Puny Parker? Bet it’ll only be a few seconds,” Flash scoffed, punctuating his statement with a hyena laugh that drew Nat’s attention. 

Peter, quite frankly, was tired of it. Knowing he’d regret his decision in a moment, he shucked off his t-shirt. Natasha only quirked an eyebrow.

“Без него я могу лучше двигаться. Достаточно плохо, что у меня есть эти джинсы,” Peter says, already regretting it as he hears his classmates’ whispers.

“I’m sorry, is he speaking _Russian_?” that’s Cindy.

“Oh no, he’s hot I’m too goy for this.” Charles.

“Did I miss the memo saying Parker isn’t… puny anymore?” Alicia mumbled, probably to Flash.

“Не позволяй им отвлекать тебя, паучок,” Nat instructs. “And don’t you dare hold out on me,” she whispered, narrowing her eyes before she launched towards him with a kick. An easy dodge, and he returned the favor readily, barely grazing her side.

He lost track of time, like he often did when he was fighting Nat, but eventually she had him pinned to the mat, barely out of breath. 

“You did better today,” she said, her little puffs of breath enough to tell him he’d given her a good run. He pulled his shirt back on and went back to stand next to Harley, trying his best to ignore all the looks he was getting. Nat was in the middle of asking who was next when Flash barged to the front. 

“I’ll bet I can last longer than Parker. How hard could it be?” he asked, a glint in his eye that said he was overly confident in his abilities. Nebula’s face said _this kid, really?_ as she looked him up and down. Natasha only tilted her head, like a predator sizing up prey. She knew who this kid was, she wasn’t stupid. Peter may not have told her, but she knew. 

“He signed the consent forms, right?” she asked Harley. 

“I would assume so. Probably wouldn’t be here if he hadn’t.”

“Wonderful. Alright, kid--”

“Flash--”

“I’ll ask you your name when I care about it. Who do you want to try to fight?”

“You. If Parker can do it, I can definitely do it,” Flash boasted. The skeptical sounds of their classmates proved that they believed otherwise. 

“Alright, come here then,” Nat said, looking bored to the naked eye, but Peter knew she was excited. Flash followed her to the mat and took up such a basic stance that Peter almost snorted. 

Flash didn’t even have time to move to defend himself when the Black Widow herself swung a punch and hit him in the side. And he was so busy being shocked about his injury that he forgot to move when she went to sweep his feet out from under him, and he went crashing down. 

“Not quite as long as Peter,” Nat said lightly, walking over to the class again behind a pouting Flash. “Who’s up next?”

\---------------------------------

“Ms. Powers,” FRIDAY spoke from the ceiling just 20 minutes later. “Boss has informed me it’s time for the press conference. He has requested I take Midtown to the 34th floor and they will be in the main press room.”

Everyone paused what they were doing, Nat and Nebula included. Peter had no idea what was happening but he knew he didn’t like it. Especially when Natasha and Nebula asked to join them on the ride down to 34. 

When they arrived, Jocelyn escorted them to the main room, Nat and Nebula disappearing somewhere along the walk. 

“You look sick,” Ned commented. 

“The hair on the back of my neck is standing up--” Peter whispered, just as the entire class screamed as a bolt of lightning hit just outside the building. “Well, Thor’s home.” But the hair on the back of his neck stayed standing. 

“Harley James Keener if you do not walk your ass over here right now I am disowning you.” the voice came from outside, and Peter immediately knew why his hair was standing up. The window rolled down and on the carpet, Iron Man landed. Every jaw in the place fell, even Jocelyn’s. MJ was doing rather well at staying composed, Peter had to admit. Harley was beaming, and immediately bounded over as Mr. Stark retracted the suit. “Damn kid, I fly you up and I don’t even get a thank you?” he teased, hugging Harley(who towered over him by now, making Peter laugh).

“Because I haven’t thanked you a billion times, or…?” Harley said as Mr. Stark waved him off. 

“Midtown, right? Welcome to my Tower. Follow me this way, the conference room is right down the hall,” he announced, already moving, Harley falling in step with him. 

When they reached the conference room, Tony wordlessly gestured for everyone to take a seat, snagging Peter’s sleeve as he tried to escape into the crowd. 

“Not so fast. You’re with me,” he said, and Peter sighed as Tony took him and Harley behind the curtain and finally, _finally_ , no one was looking at him. Tony gave him a slightly sympathetic look. “FRIDAY has been telling me all day you look distressed. Has it really been that bad?”

“I mean… it hasn’t been great. Everyone just keeps looking at me,” Peter admits. 

“Get used to it, kid. You’re worth being noticed. I wish I could say the worst is over, but I’m just going to say brace yourself.”

“Why?” Peter asked, suddenly more scared than he had ever remembered being. 

“Young Peter!” Thor boomed from behind them. Peter sighed. That. That was why. 

“That’s… not why, he just had good timing, I swear,” Tony said, and Harley laughed as Peter felt all the color leave his face. Tony checked his watch, sighing. “Well, now’s as good a time as any. We’re doing a press conference. You’re in it. We’re on. Let’s go. Don’t throw up.”

And suddenly, Peter was on the stage, standing next to Tony and Harley. 

“Welcome to Stark Tower, Midtown!!!” Tony said loudly into the microphone, his voice carrying over the chatter in the room. Everyone was quiet as they faced him. “I’m sure you all know who I am. If not, I’m worried about why you’re in my tower. I’m sure you’ve all also met my two interns, Harley and Peter.”

Harley pinched Peter to get him to move, and he waved, smirking at Flash, who looked confused and surprised and angry all at once. 

Tony went to speak into the mic again, but it wasn’t working. 

“MIDTOWN HIGH SCHOOL!!!” came Shuri’s voice on the speaker that FRIDAY’s voice usually came from. Peter winced, wishing he had his sound-dampening aids. “Who’s ready for what’s about to be the only cool press conference in history?”

Everyone cheered, although the cheers were a little confused. There was a creak and Hawkeye dropped down from the vents. Much more gracefully than the last time, although the landing was a little wobbly. 

“Well. There’s Hawkeye. Thanks for screwing me up, Clint. You wanted to be the grand finale. No matter. Everyone please give a warm welcome to: Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Bruce Banner, Wanda Maximoff, Thor Odinson, Loki of Asgard, Natasha Romanoff, and Nebula!!!” Shuri yelled. “And I’ll be down in a minute, they just put me in charge of announcing!!! Back to you, FRIDAY.”

His classmates had cheered so loud for the Avengers that were now crowding that stage that Peter had had to cover his ears, Harley putting his hands on top for extra muffling. He was glad to be standing behind Mr. Stark. Then, Shuri came rushing through the doors, yelling that they better not have started without her. 

“This is it,” Peter said to Harley. “This is my nightmare. I will now be borrowing the Ant-Man suit to walk around until someone steps on me.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Peter gave his boyfriend an eyebrow quirk. “Okay, okay. It’ll be… something?” he tried, pulling Peter to sit down on one of the chairs next to Bucky and Steve. 

“Who has questions?” Tony asked, and every hand in the room shot up. Peter couldn’t hide his smile when Bruce took his first question, then his next few, shocked to find only one Hulk question in them all. He went to a school full of budding scientists. Peter zoned out, he already knew the answers to all the questions. Things got a little more interesting when Abe asked about Spider-Man.

“Why isn’t Spider-Man here today?” he asked. Mr. Stark’s eyes flicked over to Peter, who looked as though he was being strangled. 

“Spider-Man had a previous engagement. Plus, he’s not technically an Avenger. We asked him, but he turned us down. He’s still around a lot though. Massive pain in the ass, Spider-Man,” Clint said. Harley looked at Peter incredulously. 

“I thought they were joking!” Peter said under his breath. 

“How many of you know the person under the mask?” Betty asked. She knew, of course, that it was Peter, but she probably wanted a story for the paper. 

Everyone’s hand raised, including Harley and Peter, the latter of whom had his hand raised for him by his boyfriend. 

“Peter, you know Spider-Man?” Charles asked. “Can you hook me up if he’s single?”

Peter took a second to clear his throat, knowing he was either going to laugh or cry if he didn’t.

“Yeah, Spider-Man and I are… we’re pretty close. I work on a lot of his tech, and he knows his way around a lab, so he helps out, so we talk while we work. I happen to know that he’s _happily_ taken,” Peter said. 

“Mr. Stark, what kind of stuff does Peter do for you as an intern?” Jeanne asked. 

“I’m gonna let Pete answer that,” Mr. Stark said, entirely unhelpful. Everyone turned expectantly towards him. 

“Well, I do a lot of miscellaneous projects down in R&D and the Chem labs. I of course do a lot with the Spider-Man tech, and I do repairs on Bucky’s arm from time to time.”

“Bullshit,” Flash coughed from right in front of Peter. Every Avenger went still. Looking back, Peter wasn’t sure Steve was breathing. 

“I’m sorry, what was that?” Bruce asked. Flash seemed to have taken all he could today. He didn’t seem to care that he was surrounded by superheroes and his teachers as he stalked up to Peter. 

“I know this is all a fluke, Parker. I also know that you have no money. _So how much time did you spend on your knees to make this happen?_ ” Flash seethed. Peter shrunk back, Harley’s arm wrapping around his waist protectively. Tony looked to Flash, calm as death. 

“Get out,” he said, and it echoed through the room. 

Flash looked at him. “What?”

“You heard him. Get out,” Bucky said simply. 

“I’ve definitely heard your name before, Mr. Thompson,” Steve said, taking over for Bucky. “It’s usually associated with Peter saying that your bullying is ‘fine’ because it doesn’t really bother him. But it bothers me. And the fact that you have just gone as far as insinuating that Peter has done _anything_ for us to play along like he works here was the last straw. Peter seems to not mind it all too much, but we do. And you,” Steve said, rounding on Mr. Harrington. “You’ve done nothing to stop him all day. Everyone who has seen this group today said the same thing. If you start in on that ‘boys will be boys’ bullshit, I don’t know what I’m going to do.”

Peter could see Clint itching to reprimand his language, but even he knew that it was not the time. An angry Steve was a scary Steve.

“I’m sure you’ve seen it before, too. Just two boys roughhousing, how are you supposed to know when it becomes more? You ask, that’s how. I’ll tell you a secret, gentlemen. I’m sure it’ll come as a shock. _I don’t like bullies_.” Steve said. “I’ll escort you both out to the bus where you can wait for the rest of the class to join you in just a few minutes.”

And with that, Steve led Flash and Peter’s teacher out of the room. The tension in the room was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. 

“Does anyone have any more questions?” Wanda asked from her seat. There were a few scattered ones, but eventually the room got silent, and Harley took that as his cue to get Peter backstage, where he promptly slid down the wall onto the floor. Harley joined him. 

“That actually went better than I thought,” Harley said. Peter gave him a side eye before flopping his head to the side, resting it on his boyfriend. “Not in the mood, yet. Okay. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Help me kill Steve,” Peter seethed. “I told him. I told him not to. I wasn’t worried about it. It genuinely doesn’t bother me. It’s fucking _high school_ for the love of god! People get bullied. Kids like me get bullied by guys like him. And I didn’t mind taking one for the team, but here we are now.”

“Darlin’. Listen to me. You may not realize it, but he was hurting you. You pushed it down and said you were fine, but when you talked about him after a long day, you sounded so defeated, and it broke my heart. I’m sure everyone else noticed, too. Steve was just the first one to snap. Be lucky it wasn’t Loki or Nat. We would have witnessed the murder, but never found the body.” 

Peter shrugged. “At this point, I know I’m being dramatic, but it’s been such a long day. At this point all I can do is cry, sleep, or kill.”

“Don’t kill my fiance, please,” Bucky commented as everyone came backstage. 

“You may not have one for much longer,” Peter said. Bucky took a step forward before seeing Harley's face, and he decided not to push it. Just then Steve walked in. 

“I’m sorry, Peter. I just… I couldn’t stand it anymore,” he said. Peter got up. 

“I’m so far beyond mad right now, Uncle Steve,” he started, throwing his arms around his uncle. “But I’ll get over it and thank you later.” he promised. 

“Come on, darlin’. Let’s go upstairs,” Harley offered his arms, and Peter yawned, nodding, and Harley scooped him up.

“Be careful what you wish for. He’s a leech,” Natasha called after them. Harley’s laughter was all Peter heard before he drifted off to sleep. 

\---------------------------------

When Peter woke up, he had about one moment of peace before the entire day hit him like a freight train. From Harley’s surprise visit to Steve’s explosion, Peter went over it all. Thankfully, he didn’t want to outright commit murder anymore. However, he did want to go out and see just how guilty everyone was. 

“Good morning, sunshine,” Clint called from the kitchen. 

“I’m going to pour cement in your nose,” Peter said sweetly, and Clint just stared at him before they both burst into laughter. “Everyone is in the common area, right?”

“Yeah. How much guilt tripping is about to go down?”

“Oh so much,” Peter said, marching into the other room. Immediately Tony, Loki, Bruce, and Steve started apologizing all at once. 

“Stop talking, I can’t even hear myself losing the will to live with all this noise,” Peter said. “You all owe me so big that I can’t even come up with all of the ways. However, it’s going to start with giving Harley and I some space. You have 5 minutes to clear out of here, I talk to him more when he’s in Tennessee at this rate. Out.”

When the room was clear, Peter flopped onto the couch. 

“Still tired?” Harley asked. Peter nodded. 

“Still tired. Still overwhelmed. Still reeling and still dreading school on Monday. I also still can’t believe you’re here early,” he said. Harley pulled him closer.

“Me either. But now we have even more time, plus, I can help you with your English homework now instead of you spending 3 days on it,” Harley teased, and Peter laughed, undermined by a yawn. 

“Sleep, darlin’. I’ll be right here when you get up, okay?” Harley promised. Peter nodded, curling up, watching whatever was playing on tv until he drifted off to sleep again. 

\---------------------------------  
\---------------------------------

 **GUIDE**  
паук ребенок - spider baby  
мама-паук - spider mom/mama spider  
Без него я могу лучше двигаться. Достаточно плохо, что у меня есть эти джинсы - I can move better without it.{referring to his shirt} Bad enough that I have these jeans on.  
Не позволяй им отвлекать тебя, паучок - Don't let them distract you, spider.

**Author's Note:**

> I really hope you loved reading this as much as I loved writing it! Please drop a comment if you liked it, they keep me going. Sending you all love and wishes for good health


End file.
